Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Jolyon Hudson: 'early recordings for download of Coleridge Taylor that are otherwise unavailable commercially.'

Jolyon Hudson tells us of a 78 rpm recording of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's Sonata in D Minor. Some knowledge of sound files is required to listen to the recording: "Just for your information I have placed a couple of early recordings
for download of Coleridge Taylor that are otherwise unavailable
commercially. You can find them at my blog site
Here is an excerpt from the blog post of Jolyon Hudson, entitled
Centenary of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor II:
Coleridge-Taylor:  Sonata in D Minor Op. 28
Albert Sammons, violin & William Murdoch, piano
Columbia L 1396 & L 1397 
[75860-1, 75861-1, 75862-1, 75863-1]
Recorded May 1917
3 Flac files in a .rar file...at Mediafire. [about 46Mb]
There is a paucity of information on
this work but I have garnered together the contemporary accounts. The first performance took place in 1898. The Musical Times January 1899 issue, under the heading British Chamber Concerts, has the following notice:-  'The fifth season of this  praiseworthy and  patriotic enterprise was concluded on the 14th [December 1898],  at  the Queens (Small) Hall  … The concert on the 14th ult. was opened by a meritorious interpretation,  by Messrs. Ernest Fowles, Jasper Sutcliffe, Leonard Fowles, and Paul Ludwig, of Gerard F. Cobb's Pianoforte Quartet in E (Op. 34), and was made specially distinctive by the first performance of a Sonata in D minor (Op. 28) for pianoforte and violin, by Mr. Coleridge-Taylor. This work fully maintains the reputation which this gifted young composer has so early acquired. The music seems to have much to express, and the three movements, severally headed  allegro ma non tanto,  "Lament" Larghetto, and Allegro vivo con fuoco,  the last terminating with a mourful section entitled Alla  moresco, tell a tale that appears to range over the whole scale of sentiment. The "Lament" is really beautiful and seems to  "give sorrow words." The work was sympathetically interpreted  by Mr. Ernest Fowles and Mr. Jasper Sutcliffe, and should be heard again at an  early date. Alas this appears to be the works only performance during Coleridge-Taylor's lifetime. The work was revived during the First World War again The Musical Times of April 1916 reports on the performance:-  'The All British Concerts run by Mr. de Lara have maintained activity in a good cause. A Sonata in D minor for pianoforte and violin by Coleridge-Taylor was played on [March 23 1916]. It had rested for seventeen years, and deserved revival.’

No comments: